The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

night and let him know that we need to just let it go because with him in my life, what happened with Caleb isn’t as scary.
     
    Morning is clipping over the mountains and the sky is a bright pink, but the beauty of it is very misleading compared to what’s going on down below. The wind is raging, blowing in a storm and chilling the temperature.
     
    My father is at the kitchen table when I walk inside. His brown hair is parted to the side and he’s got his tie and slacks on, ready for Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon.
     
    When he peers up from his food, his eyebrows furrow. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying.”
     
    “I’m fine.” I glance in the living room, before backtracking to the center of the kitchen. “Where’s mom? I need to ask her if I can borrow her car.”
     
    “She’s taking a shower.” He stands up from the chair and drops the bowl into the sink, observing me. “You look like you’ve lost some weight. Make sure you eat a lot today. There’s going to be a game after dinner and I want you to play this year.”
     
    “Okay, fine.” I can hardly hear him as I browse through the messages on my phone, but there aren’t any from Kayden. “Can I borrow your car for a little bit? I promise I won’t be gone for too long.”
     
    He reaches for the keys in his pocket. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look really upset.”
     
    “I’m fine,” I assure him, unnerved because normally he doesn’t notice these things. How bad do I look? “I just need to check up on a friend.”
     
    He tosses me the keys and I catch them effortlessly. “Would this friend be one of my old quarterbacks?”
     
    I wrap my fingers around the keys, feeling the jagged sides cut into my palm. “Mom’s been gossiping, hasn’t she?”
     
    He shrugs, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “You know how she gets. She just wants you to be happy.”
     
    “I am happy.” And at that moment it doesn’t seem like a huge lie. “I just need to find someone.” I turn for the door.
     
    “Be back in an hour,” he calls out. “You know she’s going to want your help. Your brother never came home last night. He probably stayed out all night getting drunk, so he won’t be any help.”
     
    “Okay.” I step out into the cold, feeling something hit me in the chest, but I’m not sure what it is. My phone goes off in my pocket and I’m surprised to see Luke’s name flash on the screen.
     
    “Hello,” I answer as I run down the driveway and hop into my dad’s car.
     
    “Hey,” he says in an anxious voice. “Have you talked to Kayden at all?”
     
    “Not since last night.” I slam the door and start the engine, not bothering to let the defroster warm up. “I don’t know where he went. He just took off and I can’t get a hold of him.”
     
    “Me neither.” He wavers as I crane my neck and back the car onto the road, squinting to see through the frosted rear window. “Listen Callie, last night he did something really bad.”
     
    I align the car onto the road and shove it into drive. “What happened?”
     
    “I got this weird call from him,” he says. “Asking me to pick him up. He had me take him out to the lake and he… he beat the shit out of Caleb Miller.”
     
    I press the gas pedal to the floor and the tires squeal. “Is he okay?”
     
    “He’s fine, I guess, but he got arrested and his dad had to bail him out.”
     
    My heart stops. “His dad?”
     
    He pauses.  “Yeah, his dad.”
     
    I wonder if Luke knows about Kayden’s dad. “I’m heading over to his house right now to check up on him.”
     
    “Me too. Where are you?”
     
    “Like a few blocks away… On Mason Road.”
     
    “Okay, I’ll see you in a few,” he says. “And Callie, be careful, his dad’s…”
     
    “I know.” I hang up and grip the phone in my hand as I drive up the hill that leads to Kayden’s house.
     
    The two-story mansion looks huge in front of the hills, towering toward the sky. By the time I park beneath the tree, the wind has kicked up and brown leaves blow through the air, nearly shadowing the forest that surrounds the house. I hop out of the car with my heart thudding inside my chest, and sprint across the lawn and up the stairs, swinging my arms to get the leaves out of my face.
     
    The front door is agape, swaying in the wind. When I step into the foyer, a nauseous feeling burns in my stomach. Something doesn’t feel right. I glance in the